Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix Review

The Bemani series has been one of Konami's most successful franchises ever. In case you don't know the Bemani series consists of games like Dance Dance, Guitar Freaks, DrumMania and BeatMania. The more popular of the four is Dance Dance. Dance Dance is sort of like Parrapa the Rapper but with more replay value and slightly more depth in overall offerings. Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix is the third installment in the Dance Dance component of Bemani. The arcade attracted gamers of all genres and captivated them instantaneously. You have a dancing pad with the direction buttons left, right, up and down. Using your feet it is your duty to press the correct arrow and to match the corresponding beat. If any of you folks read my DC vs. PS2 article, then you may have heard me complain about Konami's lack of testicular fortitude by not bringing out a Dance Dance or any Bemani game for that matter to America. The problem is that Konami is afraid that gamers wouldn't want to shell out extra cash for the dancing mat. But the question that hits me is that gamers bought Time Crisis or Point Blank 1 & 2 for an extra $10 just for the gun so why won't they buy Dance Dance which should retail for around $45-$50 because of the PS2's future coming. The pad isn't really something that I would call high quality design, it's just a plastic mat with a few wires in it, I'd say that if a Dance Dance game would come to the US then the mat should cost no more than $15. Sad to say this but the US gamers are the only gamers without a Bemani game, yes folks that's right Europe has Bemani games. I think it is my duty to let you guys in on the fun, so I have decided to write an import review of Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix and show you why you must import this game.

&nbsp
It's obvious that visuals are not this game's main concern. Right from the get go I noticed that visuals aren't needed at all in here because the main focus in the game is concentrating in the arrows/keys. One thing of the bat, when playing Arcade mode in the background your selected character will be dancing to the beat and behind retro colors will surround his/her dancing. While graphics aren't as funky as Parrapa's or UmJammer's they still are pretty decent to hold up their own ground.

&nbsp
Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix is known for its addictiveness. The point of DDR is to match the upcoming arrow with the arrow on your pad. When playing you will notice four arrows (left, right, up, down) and whenever there is an arrow or a pair of arrows approaching you, you have to lock in the arrow/arrows as soon as they overlap the display arrows. Take a look at the screenshots and you will understand, but the basics of the game are easy to comprehend, it's playing the game which takes more skill. When everything kicks off and you first enter a mode (which I suggest is the Training mode), you will be thrown into a world of jumping, dancing and singing along. If you're playing without a dancing mat, get ready to make a good ass groove on your couch 'cause your going to need to get as comfy as possible. Now that you are ready to start playing Dance Dance I suggest heading over into the Training mode where you get acquainted with the whole game and its functions. You start out with about 35 tracks to chose from and as you progress you will one way or another break open a new track which can be tested in the Bonus Track menu. After selecting a song you have the option of picking the pace of the song and where the song starts and ends, but this can only be done in Training.

&nbsp
If you are a person who is a bit on the chubby side then this game is for you. If you can get this game with the mat then you should definitely consider indulging into its Diet Mode. You pick your weight, height, and how many calories you want to burn, then let the game take over. You pick yourself a song, pick a slower song if you want to take time losing some cals or take a faster swing if you want the calories to be gone quicker. Oh and I want to mention that 100% of the games songs are in full English, some songs are actually real radio hits that you may have heard before. There is no doubt in my mind that Dance Dance Revolution is the most addictive game I have ever played in my life, sorry Tony Hawk, sorry Parrapa, DDR edges you guys out in almost every category. To fully experience the joy that is DDR you must play this game with the dancing mat. There are grades given for each performance, at first you will most likely do a satisfactory job and get Ds and Cs then later on as you gripe more of DDR you will be getting Bs and As. Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix is certainly the most entertaining product ever created on a game console, I am music lover and the quality that DDR offers in music is unrivaled by any other game out there.

&nbsp
Giving the gamer a choice of all types of music genres DDR is one hell of a purchase. You literally have every single genre of music, Rock, Rap, Techno, Dance, Reggae, House, and even a re-mix of In The Navy (an old Village People song). All of these songs sound perfect, read that word over and over again and understand it. Perfect is defined as: Being without defect; flawless. You may be wondering "aw come on Arnold nothing's perfect", except for DDR's audio presentation. Each song sounds excellent, there is nothing wrong, no static, no hard to hear speech, nada, zip, cero. The game also features an announcer who comments on your dancing in the arcade mode with much enthusiasm. My say for all of you is go to an importing website or possibly eBay and find a copy of DDR 3RD Mix, it shouldn't be so hard to find.

&nbsp
I have pretty much described the controls and there isn't anything hard to do with them so don't worry about it folks. Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix is truthfully one of the best games I have okayed on my gray box yet, the marvelous music is what keeps me coming back for more and more. Once I even played DDR for 2 hours straight, no bathroom breaks nothing, Val even offered to pick up lunch for me but I refused. I was playing DDR so excessively that I broke out into sweat, guys believe me once you get into DDR you will not put your PS pad down or get off the mat if you got one.